Yellow Earth by Chen

00127013 the Movie Review of "Yellow Earth"黄土地 By Chen
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One of the most trenchant critiques of Fifth Generation filmmakers focuses on their attention outside of China. Critics such as Rey Chow charge that some of their films indulge in a “self-exoticization” that parades Chinese feudal customs in front of foreign viewers in a way that encourages their prejudices. Is this a fair criticism of this film?
Chinese film director Chen Kaige was one of the Fifth Generation of Chinese cinema pioneers, and Yellow Earth 黄土地 is set in the 1930s. The film focuses on the beginning of the socio-cultural change that China experienced after the defeat of the Chiang Kai-Shek nationalists. Gu Qing, a Communist Party of China (CCP) soldier, travels to Shaanxi, a Chinese province in the North West, where he records local peasants' folk songs and uses communist lyrics to boost the morale of the people's army. In the Chinese feudal system were poor peasants may rent land from landlords, and exploitation was rampant. The self-exoticization character of the productions parades Chinese feudal customs in front of foreign viewers in a way that encourages their prejudices and leaves the impression that the Chinese are unsophisticated. 
There is an element of self-exoticization in cinematography, focusing on adapting the films to the expectations of international distributors and audiences on what is authentically Chinese. The need to internationalize Chinese cinema may have influenced the director to create a unique space where the focus on the exotic elements exported the country's production. There are periods with a long silence and few dialogues with the directors focusing more on the story and the settings to depict the "reality" of rural folks in China. In the film, there is the emphasis on representing aspects of the Chinese culture and landscape is reflected by choosing the folk songs and peasants i...